2. digital
  3. 157874-2444

Aurender's "Sound"

Just picked up an Aurender N100H. Great unit. However it's a bit on the warm and dark side, which doesn't sit well with my Pass class A amp. It's like a double whammy of warmth. Great for vocals, but hard to rock out on. But I like the unit and am trying to keep it.

Would love it if I could find a simple way to address this, like with a different USB cable to lighten things up a bit. 

If it comes to it, I might give up the Pass for something more neutral, as nice as this amp is it's not the best for music on the more lively side, or rock. (My tastes and opinions.) Even considering a class D amp like Nord, which is pretty much dead neutral which could peel back some of that warmth and darkness.

So is this a digital question, amp question or cable question? Yes to all.

Has anybody else encountered this double whammy of warmth, and what was the fix. Thanks all.
jaybe
three_easy_payments's avatar
three_easy_payments
2,097 posts
 
@erik_squires  

I've been thinking about the whole upsampling thing.

While it does not provide more data, it does change the behavior of the upper octave's filter, sometimes by a couple of dB. A significant, audible amount.

Native, bit perfect is far superior if you have a quality DAC.  I think you will start seeing upsampling disappearing from products over the next few years.  No one will want it while DACs improve.
papafrgog
103 posts
 
Your (and others) thoughts about Cables is spot on. Used cables are be a bargain if you know what you want.
 I have a synergistic research active usb cable. You can tune it a little but SR has a 30-day return policy so you can determine if it does anything at all. Send it back if not
Also changing the ICs could give you what your looking for.  The cable company has free demos and tons of used options at every price point. 
alfa100's avatar
alfa100
221 posts
 
I have Aurender X100L and Pass Labs XA 100.8.  Sounds neutral.  Look at  Preamp,  speaker position, room treatment.      Btw what preamp and Pass Labs amp are you using ? 
More to discover